Scottish Executive

Air Services

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2646 by Nicol Stephen on 1 October 2003, what funding it will make available for the Edinburgh to New York air service for the next three years; how much has been paid from the Route Development Fund for the service to date, broken down by individual payment; to whom such payments have been made, and what funding was provided prior to the awarding of the route in order to secure it.

Nicol Stephen: The amount of the investment from the fund offered to secure the forthcoming service between Edinburgh and New York is commercially confidential.

  Investment from the fund goes to the airport operator to enhance the discount it offers for new direct air services. No payments from the fund for the Edinburgh to New York service will be made prior to the commencement of the service.

Animal Welfare

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what contribution it makes to the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) to assist with its work in enforcing the law and assisting the prosecution of cases in relation to cruelty and neglect of animals.

Ross Finnie: Animal Health Inspectors from local authority trading standards departments and the State Veterinary Service are the statutory agencies responsible for enforcing animal welfare legislation in Scotland.

  The Scottish Executive does, therefore, not make any financial contribution to the SSPCA for the work it undertakes in assisting to enforce animal welfare legislation and prosecution in cases of alleged cruelty or neglect.

Higher Education

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards securing permanent contracts for university research staff.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-1682 on 28 August 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

NHS Staff

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS hospital auxiliary staff there are in total and how many receive the minimum wage; whether any private sector companies operating within the NHS are paying wages less than the minimum wage and, if so, where, and what action it will take to address this issue.

Malcolm Chisholm: Statistics relating to the numbers of NHS hospital auxiliary staff can be found on the ISD website at www.isdscotland.org/isd.

  All NHSScotland trusts and private companies operating within them have adopted the provisions set out in the NHSScotland Low Pay Agreement, whereby no member of staff should earn less than £5.18 per hour. The two trusts who have most recently adopted these provisions are Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals Trust and Lothian Primary Care Trust. Both trusts have agreed to fund the shortfall in wages paid by their private contractors and are currently in the process of implementing this agreement.

Police

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the fuel costs for each police force have been in each year since 1997.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally.

Prison Service

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what body was responsible for the decision not to include in-cell showers in the design of the new Iona houseblock at HM Prison Polmont.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service.

Prison Service

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1869 by Cathy Jamieson on 9 September 2003, whether, as a result of the revision of baseline figures for HM Prison Kilmarnock’s performance, any repayment has been made to the operators of the prison.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes, a repayment of £10,622 was made to Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited.

Public Sector Staff

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many front-line staff who deal with the public have worked in the public sector in each of the last six years, broken down by profession.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally. However, statistics on the number of people employed in the public and private sector in Scotland from 1996 until 2002 are contained in Public private sector employment by occupation , a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 29537).

Roads

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current status is of the A82 Tarbet to Crianlarich Route Action Plan.

Nicol Stephen: A commission to undertake the A82 Route Action Plan was recently awarded to Scott Wilson Scotland Ltd. A start on the study work is imminent.

Teachers

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of primary school teachers employed in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002 were (i) male and (ii) female.

Peter Peacock: Information on the number and percentage of primary teachers employed in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002 who were (i) male and (ii) female is available from the Summary of Results of the September 2001 and 2002 School Censuses and can be accessed using the following links:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00168-00.asp

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00272-00.asp

Water Services

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for a bill to address the possibility of competition in the public water and sewerage networks.

Ross Finnie: The Executive has set out its proposals for amending the present framework of water and sewerage regulations in the draft Water Services (Scotland) Bill, which it published for consultation today. The purposes of the draft bill's provisions are to:

  Protect public health and the environment by prohibiting common carriage on the public networks.

  Safeguard the Executive's social objectives by prohibiting anyone other than Scottish Water from serving household customers.

  Establish a licensing regime to regulate the provision of retail services to non-household customers.

  Subject to the outcome of the consultation exercise, the Executive intends to introduce the bill during 2004.

  Copies of the draft bill have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 29575). Further copies can be obtained from the Scottish Executive, Environment and Rural Affairs Department, Water Services Unit, Area 1-H, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ; tel. 0131 244 0275. The deadline for comments on the draft bill is 9 January 2004.

Young People

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people under 18 were taken into custody due to being drunk and disorderly in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area, expressed also as a percentage of all drunk and disorderly offences.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not available centrally.